This is a lesson about generating hypotheses and testable questions. Learners will use critical thinking and a collaborative approach to pose questions related to the study of Mars and evaluate the quality of their questions. They will explore...(View More) remote-sensing data collected by a camera orbiting Mars - the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) and develop a team science question. Students will practice critical thinking skills, use a collaborative approach to this first critical step of the scientific process. Exploring the images of the surface of Mars in Visible (VIS) images, students will come up with a topic of study, their team science question and hypotheses. The lesson models scientific inquiry using the 5E instructional model and includes teacher notes and vocabulary.(View Less)

Learners will take and then compare the images taken by a camera - to learn about focal length (and its effects on field of view), resolution, and ultimately how cameras take close-up pictures of far away objects. Finally, they will apply this...(View More) knowledge to the images of comet Tempel 1 taken by two different spacecraft with three different cameras, in this case Deep Impact and those expected/obtained from Stardust-NExT. This lesson could easily be adapted for use with other NASA missions.(View Less)

This is a game about planning what to take on a space trip to Mars. Learners will decide on the appropriateness of items to take on a long trip to Mars and take into consideration the effects of zero gravity, limited electrical power, etc.

This is a lesson about the value of exploring our solar system and others in the Universe. Learners will investigate, compare, and describe patterns in Solar System data. They will then hypothesize about the formation of the Solar System based on...(View More) data and explain how extrasolar planets can be discovered. In the first activity, the students investigate Solar System data to find clues to how our planetary system was formed. By the end of the activity, the students come to understand that other stars form just like the Sun, and, therefore, many stars could have planets around them. The second activity examines how scientists can find these extrasolar planets. By observing the behavior of a model star-planet system, the students come to understand that it is possible to see the effect a planet has on its parent star even if the planet cannot be seen directly. By comparing the properties of our Solar System with other planetary systems, we can gain a deeper understanding of planetary systems across the Universe.(View Less)

This activity introduces the importance of meteorites to the understanding of the origin of the Solar System. Learners will use a key to determine if samples are meteorites. Finding meteorites can be difficult because most meteorites look like Earth...(View More) rocks to the casual or untrained eye. Even to the trained eye, recognizing meteorites can be difficult. Since scientists believe that some meteorites are pieces of the asteroid Vesta, they may be very old remnants of the solar system in its earliest stages. This activity provides information and insight that allows participants to share scientists' expectations, based on meteoritic samples, of what we will find when the NASA's Dawn Mission visits Vesta and Ceres.(View Less)

This is a design challenge about heat transfer and insulation. Learners will apply the scientific method to design and build a container that will keep items cool when placed in boiling water. They will practice collaboration in team-building and in...(View More) teamwork. This is lesson 4 of 4 at the Grade 9-12 range of the module, Staying Cool.(View Less)

This is an activity about the conditions for a sustainable biosphere. Learners will build a biosphere that is a balanced, self-enclosed living system able to run efficiently over a long period of time. This activity is in Unit 3 of the Exploring the...(View More) Moon teachers guide, which is designed for use especially, but not exclusively, with the Lunar Sample Disk program.(View Less)

In this activity, learners will investigate and try to explain various lunar anomalies. They will present hypotheses (both written and oral) and then debate the merits of each hypothesis, with no right or wrong answers. This activity is in Unit 2 of...(View More) the teachers guide, Exploring the Moon, which is designed for use especially, but not exclusively, with the Lunar Sample Disk program.(View Less)